Image Processing System

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a display screen based on a display pattern of an image processing apparatus. Instruction data in which process information representing as a series of processes at least one process performed to document data and UI information for setting execution contents of the processes are described is acquired, and the UI information is extracted. A screen structure is generated on the basis of the UI information, and a screen of screen information obtained by reflecting the setting information on the screen structure is displayed. In this manner, a display screen having versatility and expandability can be provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 10/660,562 filed Sep. 12,2003. This application claims priority under 35 USC 119 from JapanesePatent Application No. 2003-81355, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and animage processing method and, more particularly, to an image processingapparatus for performing processes in accordance with instruction datawhich expresses a plurality of processes to be performed to documentdata as a series of processes and an image processing method.

2. Description of the Related Art

A conventional complex machine in which a facsimile function, a scannerfunction, a printer function, and the like are integrated with a copyingmachine is proposed. Such a complex machine is connected to a network towhich a personal computer (PC) or the like is connected, so that apaperwork which uses a copying machine, a facsimile, and the like usingpaper as main media can be associated with document processes which areconverted to electronic form on a PC.

More specifically, a paper document can be scanned to transfer thescanned data to a personal computer, a document received by a facsimilefunction can be directly transmitted to a PC as image data without beingprinted, or another process can be performed. In addition, after a paperdocument or a facsimile-received document converted to electronic form,a large number of procedures and processes are desirably associated witheach other and automated.

For this reason, the following technique is proposed. That is, a largenumber of job templates each constituted as a computerized file in whicha desired setting related to an item to be set by a complex machine inadvance is described are prepared according to process contents andstored, a job template corresponding to desired contents is designatedin the large number of job templates, and the process is executed.

However, in this technique, since there are a large number of jobtemplates, a long time was disadvantageously required to find out anddesignate a desired job template among the large number of jobtemplates.

As a technique, which can be applied to solve this problem, thefollowing technique is disclosed. That is, desired documents areretrieved from a large number of documents, which are stored in advance,and basic information retrieval is performed depending on an informationrequest of the user to support next-stage retrieval (narrowing down) inthe retrieved document group. On the basis of a retrieval resultobtained as described above, information of an operable output screen isgenerated to the user and transferred to the user terminal (for example,see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2001-306594 (FIG. 2pages 10 to 11)).

When this technique is applied to a complex machine and a PC which areconnected to the network, the information of the output screen can betransferred to the complex machine and the PC. For this reason, thetransferred output screen can be displayed on the apparatus side such asthe PC or the complex machine.

However, in the above prior art, on the PC or complex machine side, thetransferred output screen can be displayed. However, in the function ofthis output screen consideration was not given to the size, functions,and the like of a display device arranged on the PC or complex machineside. For this reason, there were occasions when requests had to be madeto transfer, information of an output screen depending on a displaypattern on the processing apparatus side connected to the network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and hasas its object to provide an image processing apparatus and an imageprocessing method, which can provide a display screen in accordance witha display pattern of the image processing apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention includes: anacquisition component for acquiring instruction data in which processinformation representing as a series of processes a process performed todocument data and setting information including at least a setting itemand a setting value for setting execution contents of the processes aredescribed; an extraction component for extracting from the instructiondata the setting information to be displayed on the display component; ageneration component for generating screen information for displaying ascreen on the display component on the basis of the setting informationextracted by the extraction component; and a display component fordisplaying a screen on the basis of the screen information.

The image processing apparatus according to the invention includes theacquisition component to acquire instruction data in which processinformation and setting information are described. The processinformation expresses as a series of processes a process performed todocument data. The setting information includes at least a setting itemand a setting value for setting execution contents of processes. Thedocument data is information related to documents. For example, thedocument data is character information such as text data, imageinformation obtained by reading a paper document, or the like. Theprocess information expresses as a series of processes a processperformed to document data, and expresses a co-ordination betweenprocesses related to document data. A setting item and a setting valuefor setting execution contents of processes may be set in advance atpredetermined values as initial values, and it is also possible torequire the input of a setting value.

The display component displays screen information. The display componentcan also comprise a touch panel function, which displays screeninformation and accepts an operation input by the user. The extractioncomponent extracts from the instruction data setting information to bedisplayed on the display component. The generation component generates ascreen structure to be displayed on the display component on the basisof the setting information extracted by the extraction component. Thescreen structure expresses a position, a display shape, and the likedisplayed on the display component for the setting item and the settingvalue. Further, the generation component generates screen informationobtained by reflecting the setting information on the screen structure.The display component displays the generated screen information.

In this way, the screen structure to be displayed on the displaycomponent is generated on the basis of the setting information describedin the instruction data, and the screen information obtained byreflecting the setting information on the screen structure can bedisplayed on the display component. For this reason, a display screen,which has versatility and expandability, and can be changed in settinginformation and setting structure, can be provided.

The generation component can include an interpreting component forinterpreting a display item for defining the screen structure on thebasis of the setting information extracted by the extraction component.The generation component interprets the display item for defining thescreen structure on the basis of the extracted setting information andoutputs the screen information on which the interpreted display item isreflected. For this reason, on the display component, the screeninformation is displayed in accordance with the display item, and thedisplay item having expandability can be displayed.

The acquisition component can acquire the instruction data from anexternal device. Since instruction data which is formed in advance orstored in advance can be acquired from the external device, theinstruction data can be subjected by the external device to an updatingprocess, a changing process, or the like, can be acquired as needed, andat least one process related to a series of processes can be executed,and image information displayed.

The instruction data further includes storage location informationrepresenting a position of the external device in which the imageinformation is stored in advance, and the acquisition component canfurther acquire the screen information in accordance with the storagelocation information. The screen information is stored in advance in theexternal device, and the acquisition component can acquire screeninformation in accordance with the storage location informationrepresenting the position of the external device. In this manner, screeninformation can be displayed on the display component without screeninformation being formed by the image processing apparatus.

As the storage location information, address information representingthe position of the external storage device connected to thecommunication network can be used. The acquisition component can acquireimage information through the communication network with reference tothe position of the image storage device based on the addressinformation. For this reason, image information can be easily acquiredwithout being generated by the image processing apparatus.

The acquisition component can be connected to a server, in which thescreen information is stored and can acquire the screen information fromthe server. The acquisition component acquires the screen informationfrom the server by connecting the acquisition component to the server.In this manner, the screen information can be acquired without beinggenerated by the image processing apparatus.

According to the following image processing method, a screen havingexcellent expandability can be provided. More specifically, according tothe image processing method the screen can acquire instruction data inwhich process information representing as a series of processes aprocess performed to document data and setting information including atleast a setting item and a setting value for setting execution contentsof the processes are described, and can extract from the instructiondata the setting information to be displayed, generate screeninformation for displaying a screen on the basis of the extractedsetting information, and display a screen on the basis of the generatedscreen information.

A screen having excellent expandability can be provided by causing acomputer to process the following image processing program. Morespecifically, the image processing program executed in a computer whichacquires instruction data in which process information representing as aseries of processes a process performed to document data and settinginformation including at least a setting item and a setting value forsetting execution contents of the processes are described displays inputscreen information, extracts from the instruction data the settinginformation to be displayed, generates a screen structure to bedisplayed on the basis of the extracted setting information, and outputsscreen information obtained by reflecting the setting information on thegenerated screen structure. A data signal representing the program maybe included in a carrier wave, and the carrier wave may be stored in astorage medium.

The image processing apparatus according to the invention and the imageprocessing method according to the invention according to the inventioncan acquire instruction data in which process information representingas a series of processes a process performed to document data andsetting information including at least a setting item and a settingvalue for setting execution contents of the processes are described, canextract setting information, generate a screen structure on the basis ofthe setting information, and display a screen of screen informationobtained by reflecting the setting information on the screen structure.In this manner, a display screen having versatility and expandabilitycan be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a documentprocessing network system according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of acomplex machine.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing interface (I/F) information.

FIG. 4 is an image diagram showing user interface (UI) information.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing instruction data.

FIG. 6 shows an example of UI information described in an XML format.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a display function component of animage processing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing procedures of a client terminal andinstruction data generation server in formation of instruction data.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing a co-ordinative procedure.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing an image display process.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing a display image generation process.

FIG. 12 is an image diagram showing an example of a display screendisplayed in accordance with UI information.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing another application example of theinvention to explain interrelations between service processing devicesconstituting a document processing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described belowin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(System Configuration)

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a documentprocessing system 1 according to this embodiment.

In the document processing system 1, various services and variousapplications are connected to each other through a network 5. Theservices mentioned here correspond to functions performed according toexternal requests and related to documents. The services correspond to,e.g., a copying process, a printing process, a scanning process, afacsimile transmitting/receiving process, an e-mail deliver operationprocess, a storing in a repository process, a reading from therepository operation, an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) process, anoise reduction process, and the like. However, the invention is notlimited to these processes.

The document processing system 1 comprises, in detail, a client terminal10 having a user interface which incorporates a plurality of services todesignate a desired process of the user, a service retrieval server 20for retrieving a desired service of the user, instruction datageneration server 30 for forming instruction data on the basis ofinformation related to service co-ordination designated by the clientterminal 10, instruction data management server 40 for managing theinstruction data, and a coordinating process server 50 for executing acoordinating process of the respective services according to theinstruction data.

Furthermore, the document processing system 1 further comprises an imageprocessing apparatus 61 for performing image processing such as a noisereduction process of an image document, an image rotating process, anOCR process, or an image binding process, a document management server62 for managing documents, a document delivery server 63 for deliveringdocuments, a first service processing device 64 for performing a firstservice process, and a second service processing device 65 forperforming a second service process.

In this embodiment, the document processing system 1 has a configurationin which a plurality of servers for performing predetermined serviceprocesses are connected to each other through the network 5. However, itis satisfactory if the plurality of services are connected to each otherthrough the network 5, and the invention is not limited to theconfiguration.

The instruction data mentioned here is data including informationrepresenting relations between functions and interface (I/F) informationfor calling functions when a series of processes are disassembled into aplurality of functional processes.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining interrelations between serviceprocessing devices such as the image processing apparatus 61, thedocument management server 62, the document delivery server 63, thefirst service processing device 64, and the second service processingdevice 65 which constitute the document processing system 1. The serviceprocessing devices store pieces of I/F information representing thecontents of services provided by the service processing devices,respectively.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the I/F information.The I/F information is constituted by <Service Class>, <ServiceName>,<ServiceIcon>, <ServiceInfo.Location>, <Input>, <Output>, <ParameterRestriction Rules>, <Service Location>, <Method Name>, <InvocationScheme>, and <Implicit Elements>.

<Service Class> is a class of service provided by the service processingdevice. As <Service Class>, <Service Class> which is defined in advanceis used. <Service Class> corresponds to scanning, printing, repository,flow, or the like. <Service Name> is the name of a service provided bythe service processing device. <Service Icon> is position information ofan icon displayed on a Graphical User Interface (GUI) of the clientterminal 10. <Service Info. Location> is a Uniform Resource Locator(URL) used when the instruction data generation server 30 acquires I/Finformation.

<Input> is an input to a service. <Output> is an output from a service.<Parameter Restriction Rules> is a restriction rule applied to <Input>.<Service Info. Location> is position information used when a service isactually used. In <Method Name>, a name indicating a method of providinga service process or a service is described.

<Invocation Scheme> is a scheme for calling a service process andinvoking the service process. Note that, as <Invocation Scheme>, SOAP(Simple Object Access Protocol), SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol),and the like which are protocols for message exchange can be used.<Implicit Elements> is not data which is explicitly transferred to thesubsequent process as output but is data which can be referred to in asubsequent process.

The client terminal 10 comprises the functions of a graphical userinterface (GUI) for performing predetermined operations such as anoperation of designating formulation of instruction data, or a displayoperation for selecting instruction data to be invoked.

The service retrieval server 20 retrieves a service corresponding to aretrieve condition from a plurality of services connected to the network5. The service retrieval server 20 stores in advance a part of I/Finformation (to be referred to as “partial I/F information” hereinafter)of the various service processing devices such as the image processingapparatus 61, the document management server 62, the document deliveryserver 63, the first service processing device 64, and the secondservice processing device 65. The partial I/F information mentioned herecorresponds to <Service Class>, <Service Name>, <Service Inf. Location>,<Input> information, and <Output> information.

The service retrieval server 20 retrieves a service by using the partialI/F information of the service processing devices when retrievingconditions are transmitted from the instruction data generation server30 or the co-ordinating process server 50. For example, when the serviceretrieval server 20 retrieves the same service as the predeterminedservice, the service retrieval server 20 may retrieve a service havingthe same <Service Class> as that of the predetermined service, a servicehaving the same <Input> and <Output> as those of the predeterminedservice, or a service having all the same pieces of information as thoseof the predetermined service.

The instruction data generation server 30 acquires pieces of I/Finformation from the service processing devices and generatesinstruction data for co-ordinating services provided by the serviceprocessing devices. The instruction data generation server 30 executesthe following process in detail to form instruction data.

The instruction data generation server 30 requests predetermined serviceprocessing devices distributed on the network 5 to transmit pieces ofI/F information related to the services on the basis of <Service Info.Location>. When there is no service processing device, the instructiondata generation server 30 designates the service retrieval server 20 toretrieve another service processing device for performing the sameservice as that performed by the predetermined service processingdevice. The instruction data generation server 30 may acquire <ServiceInfo. Location> of the other service processing device from the serviceretrieval server 20.

The instruction data generation server 30 manages a retrieval resultfrom the service retrieval server 20 and the pieces of I/F informationreceived from the service processing devices. The instruction datageneration server 30 generates an Hyper Markup Language (HTML) file usedas a GUI screen for defining a job flow on the basis of the pieces ofI/F information acquired from the service processing devices. When theinstruction data generation server 30 receives a request from the clientterminal 10 to inspect a service, the instruction data generation server30 transmits the HTML file used as the GUI screen to the client terminal10.

In the client terminal 10, a job flow is defined by the GUI screen fordefining a job flow.

The client terminal 10 transmits job flow information defined by anoperation of the user to the instruction data generation server 30.

The instruction data generation server 30 forms instruction datadefining information for specifying a document to be processed such asthe contents of processes requested to be performed by the services,input parameters, co-ordinating methods of the services (job flow), adocument name, and storage location information on the basis of the jobflow information related to the designation of service co-ordination bythe user and the I/F information of each service. The instruction datais constituted by an XML format file.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing the instruction data constitutedin the XML format. Since a co-ordinating process of the plurality ofservices is considered as one service, the instruction data has aconfiguration in which <Flow> is added to the I/F information shown inFIG. 3.

<Flow> is an element, which describes correlation between services andincludes <Invoke>, a control structure or a logic operation, an elementsuch as <if> for deciding a condition, an operation designation of anXML structure for adjusting co-ordination between services, andinformation for specifying a document to be processed.

<Invoke> represents a specific method of the service processing deviceand executes calling of a service. Elements of <Invoke> include <Map>representing position information of a parameter and a method name<Method> to be called. <if>, <and>, <eq>, and <gt> representing acontrol structure, a logic operation, or the like perform conditionalbranching in a co-ordinating process or perform adjustment parameterstransferred between services.

The instruction data describes all pieces of information related tocontrol of the coordinating process of the services in the elements of<Flow>. In this manner, the co-ordinating process itself expressed bythe instruction data is also considered as one service. The instructiondata is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 5, and issatisfactory as long as it can perform co-ordination between services.

The instruction data generation server 30 transmits the aboveinstruction data of the XML format to the instruction data managementserver 40. Moreover, the instruction data generation server 30 maydirectly transmit the instruction data to the co-ordinating processserver 50 when the user designates a service coordinating process to beperformed.

On the other hand, the instruction data management server 40 holds theinstruction data transmitted from the instruction data generation server30 and transmits the instruction data to the co-ordinating processserver 50 in response to a request from the client terminal 10.

The co-ordinating process server 50 is a server for executing andinterpreting the designated instruction data. When the instruction datais transmitted to the co-ordinating process server 50, the co-ordinatingprocess server 50 interprets the instruction data and sequentially callsservice processing devices such as the image processing apparatus 61,the document management server 62, and the document delivery server 63according to an order and a usage method described in the instructiondata, and executes a co-ordinating process. Moreover, the co-ordinatingprocess server 50 stores a state of the co-ordinating process beingexecuted and result information of co-ordinating processes completed andnotifies the state or the results of the co-ordinating processes inresponse to external request.

When the co-ordinating process server 50 interprets the instruction dataand requests the service processing devices to perform processes, thecoordinating process server 50 generates individual pieces ofinformation capable of specifying process request contents and documentsto be processed. The co-ordinating process server 50 may extractrelative information between various service processes in theco-ordinating process of the processes performed in the serviceprocessing devices and describe the relative information in theinstruction data. The coordinating process server 50 may also performprocess requests not in the format of the instruction data but ininformation exchange formats inherent in the service processing devices.

The image processing apparatus 61 is a computer in which a softwareprogram for performing an image processing function is installed. Theimage processing apparatus 61 processes a document on the basis ofservice process request contents included in the individual designationinformation from the co-ordinating process server 50 and the informationcontained in a document to be processed. The image processing apparatus61 notifies the partial I/F information to the service retrieval server20 at the time of invocation. Furthermore, the image processingapparatus 61 transmits I/F information representing a usage method of animage processing service by means of a request from the instruction datageneration server 30. This I/F information is used at the time of theformulation of instruction data.

The document management server 62 has a document storing function. Thedocument management server 62 executes storage, retrieval, or reading ofa document, a change in attribute related to the document, or variousprocesses on the basis of the information included in the request fromthe co-ordinating process server 50.

The document management server 62 notifies the partial I/F informationto the service retrieval server 20 at the time of invocation. Inaddition, the document management server 62 transmits the I/Finformation representing a usage method of a document management serviceby means of a request from the instruction data generation server 30.

The document delivery server 63 comprises a function of storing anacquired document in a designated document management server, a functionof performing e-mail or facsimile transmission to a designateddestination, a function of performing a print output process to adesignated printer. The document delivery server 63 performs a documentdelivery process on the basis of a document designated by the clientterminal 10 and information or a delivery destination of the documentdepending on the individual designation information from theco-ordinating process server 50. The document delivery server 63notifies the partial I/F information to the service retrieval server 20at the time of invocation. In addition, the document delivery server 63transmits the I/F information representing a usage method of a deliveryprocess service by means of a request from the instruction datageneration server 30.

The first service processing device 64 is a device, which performs apredetermined service process related to a document according to anexternal designation. The first service processing device 64 executes aservice process to be executed by the first service processing device 64itself on the basis of information such as an input parameter includedin individual designation information from the co-ordinating processserver 50 or information for specifying a document to be processed.

The first service processing device 64 notifies the partial I/Finformation to the service retrieval server 20 at the time ofinvocation. In addition, the first service processing device 64transmits the I/F information representing the usage method of theservice process on the basis of a request from the instruction datageneration server 30. The second service processing device 65 performsin the same fashion as the first service processing device 64 exceptwith regard to the contents of the service process.

In the document processing system 1 constituted as described above,application programs for executing predetermined services are installedin service processing devices such as the image processing apparatus 61,the document management server 62, and the document delivery server 63to operate as described below.

Service processing devices such as the image processing apparatus 61,the document management server 62, and the document delivery server 63notify pieces of partial I/F information including pieces of informationrepresenting service outlines and addresses to the service retrievalserver 20 in an invoking process.

The service retrieval server 20 stores the pieces of partial I/Finformation transmitted from service processing devices such as theimage processing apparatus 61, the document management server 62, andthe document delivery server 63. In this manner, the service retrievalserver 20 can execute retrieval by using the partial I/F informationwhen a predetermined service retrieving request is received from, e.g.,the instruction data generation server 30 or the coordinating processserver 50.

(Formulation of Instruction Data)

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing procedures of the client terminal 10 andthe instruction data generation server 30 in the formulation ofinstruction data.

The client terminal 10 accesses the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of anHTML file generated on the user interface screen provided by theinstruction data generation server 30 in accordance with the operationof the user through an installed browser, (step ST1).

The instruction data generation server 30 transmits the HTML file of theuser interface screen to the client terminal 10 in response to abrowsing request from the client terminal 10 (step ST2).

The client terminal 10 displays the user interface screen on the basisof information which structures a screen included in, e.g., the HTMLfile transmitted from the instruction data generation server 30 (stepST3). At this time, the user can define a job flow of a desired serviceco-ordination by using the user interface screen displayed on the clientterminal 10.

The client terminal 10 decides whether the job flow is defined throughthe user interface screen, and waits until the job flow is defined (stepST4). When it is determined that the job flow is defined, the clientterminal 10 transmits job flow information related to the serviceco-ordination defined by the user to the instruction data generationserver 30.

The instruction data generation server 30 forms instruction data inwhich information for specifying a document to be processed such as thecontents of processes requested to be performed by the services, amethod of co-ordinating the services, a document name, and storagelocation information are defined on the basis of information related tothe job flow of the service co-ordination transmitted from the clientterminal 10 (step ST5) and the I/F information acquired from the serviceprocessing devices. The instruction data generation server 30 transmitsthe instruction data of the XML format to the instruction datamanagement server 40.

The instruction data management server 40 stores the instruction datagenerated by the instruction data generation server 30. The instructiondata management server 40 stores a plurality of instruction data formedby the instruction data generation server 30, and reads a selectedinstruction data when the client terminal 10 designates instruction datato be selected.

(Invocation and Execution of Cooperating Process)

The user can select a desired instruction data from the plurality ofinstruction data stored in the instruction data management server 40,and can invoke the co-ordinating process. This operation will bedescribed below in detail.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the processes of the client terminal 10,the instruction data management server 40, and the co-ordinating processserver 50.

The client terminal 10 accesses the instruction data management server40 to acquire a list of instruction data managed by the instruction datamanagement server 40 (step ST11).

The client terminal 10 selects instruction data expressing apredetermined service co-ordinating process from a service coordinatingprocess selection screen on the basis of an operation designation of theuser and designates the instruction data to be invoked. At this time, ifnecessary, a parameter input screen is displayed to the user, and aninput of a parameter required for execution of the job is received.

The instruction data management server 40 transmits the instruction datadesignated by the client terminal 10 to the co-ordinating process server50 (step ST12). As a result, the co-ordinating process server 50 startsexecution of the coordinating process.

The co-ordinating process server 50 interprets the instruction datatransmitted by the instruction data management server 40 and requeststhe image processing apparatus 61 which executes the first processdescribed in the instruction data to execute the first service process(step ST13). More specifically, the co-ordinating process server 50extracts a location of a service processing device requested to performa process, an input parameter required for a process request, a methodname for the process request, an invoking method, and information forspecifying a document to be processed on the basis of the informationdescribed in the instruction data and formulates individual designationinformation. The co-ordinating process server 50 transmits theindividual designation information to the image processing apparatus 61which serves as a recipient of a first process request.

The image processing apparatus 61 copies the document to be processed onthe basis of the storage location information of the document to beprocessed described in the individual designation informationtransmitted and acquires a document. The image processing apparatus 61interprets the contents of the individual designation information forthe acquired document image and performs image processing such as noisereduction or an OCR process to perform a binding process between thedocument image and an extracted text document. The image processingapparatus 61 stores again in the original storage location the documentobtained by the binding at the image document obtained by the imageprocessing with the text document. Upon completion of these processes,the image processing apparatus 61 transmits processing results such asstatus information of the processes (completion), output parameters, andstorage location information of the processed document to theco-ordinating process server 50.

When the coordinating process server 50 receives the processing resultsfrom the image processing apparatus 61, the coordinating process server50 logs and manages a first process request result. The co-ordinatingprocess server 50 specifies a recipient of a second process request onthe basis of the instruction data, and requests the document managementserver 62 to execute the second service process (step ST14). As with thefirst service process request, the co-ordinating process server 50transmits to the document management server 62 individual designationinformation (information representing that a document serving asinformation related to a process request be stored, information about adocument storage location, and information for specifying a document tobe processed).

The document management server 62 performs a storing process of thedocument which has been processed and stored in the previous process(first service process) on the basis of the request contents of theco-ordinating process server 50 on the basis of storage locationinformation described in the request contents of the co-ordinatingprocess server 50. Upon completion of these processes, the documentmanagement server 62 transmits processing results such as statusinformation of the process (completion), output parameters, and storagelocation information of the processed document to the co-ordinatingprocess server 50.

When the co-ordinating process server 50 receives the processing resultsfrom the second service process (document storing process), theco-ordinating process server 50 logs and manages the second processrequest result. The co-ordinating process server 50 now specifies arecipient of a third process request on the basis of the instructiondata, and requests the document delivery server 63 to execute a thirdservice process (step ST15). As with the second service process request,the coordinating process server 50 transmits individual designationinformation (information representing that a document serving asinformation related to a process request be stored, information about adocument storage location, and information for specifying a document tobe processed) to the document delivery server 63.

The document delivery server 63 reads the document which has beenprocessed and stored in the previous process (second service process) onthe basis of the request contents of the co-ordinating process server50, on the basis of information for specifying the document (storagelocation information), and performs a process described in the requestcontents. In this case, with the document obtained by binding the textdocument with the image document, the document delivery server 63transmits only the text document to an e-mail address designated as adelivery destination for E-mail, and performs facsimile transmission ofonly the image document to a facsimile number. Upon completion of theprocess, the document delivery server 63 transmits processing resultssuch as status information of the process (completion), outputparameters, and storage location information of the processed documentto the coordinating process server 50.

In this process, when, for example, the document delivery server 63 hasbeen unable to access a destination in, e.g., a facsimile transmissionprocess with a predetermined number of second attempts because thedestination is engaged the document delivery server 63 transmits, “mailtransmission: completion, facsimile transmission: untransmitted” asstatus information to the coordinating process server 50.

The co-ordinating process server 50 receives the processing results fromthe third service process, and determines that the next process is notdescribed in the instruction data. In this case, the coordinatingprocess server 50 notifies the client terminal 10 that all the processeshave been completed, and terminates the co-ordinating process (stepST16).

In this embodiment, the service retrieval server 20 acquires a part ofI/F information (partial I/F information) from the service processingdevices. However, the invention is not limited to this configuration.For example, the service retrieval server 20 may acquire all the I/Finformation.

As described above, according to the document processing system 1 ofthis embodiment, a series of processes performed by service processingdevices such as the image processing apparatus 61, the documentmanagement server 62, the document delivery server 63, the first serviceprocessing device 64, and the second service processing device 65 aredefined by instruction data, so that the series of processes can beexecuted in one simple operation.

On the other hand, when the image processing apparatus 61 comprises adisplay component such as a touch panel which displays a screen andaccepts an operation input by the user, the user may need to berequested to input a designation of a change in image processing densityor the like when image processing such as an OCR process executed by theimage processing apparatus 61 on the basis of the individual designationinformation is received from the coordinating process server 50.

In such a case, a display screen depending on the display componentarranged on the image processing apparatus 61 side must be provided.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the individual designation informationtransmitted from the coordinating process server 50 to the imageprocessing apparatus 61 is transmitted together with user interface (tobe referred to a UI hereinafter) information. The UI information is ageneric term for information for requesting the user to performoutputting (screen display) or inputting of the pieces of informationconstituting the I/F information (see FIG. 3) described above. Forexample, the UI information corresponds to <Input>, <Output>, and<Parameter Restriction Rules> constituting the I/F information.

In this embodiment, the image processing apparatus 61 comprises adisplay process function component 69 (FIG. 7), by which user can inputinstructions and display information to the user can be displayed on adisplay.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a block diagram showing the display processfunction component 69.

The image processing apparatus 61 includes a microcomputer constitutedby a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and comprises the display process functioncomponent 69. The display process function component 69 is constitutedby a display control component 70 and the display processing component72. The display control component 70 is constituted by instruction dataacquisition component 74, instruction data storage component 76, andinstruction data interpreting component 78. The display processingcomponent 72 is constituted by a display contents interpreting component80, a display image generation component 82 and a display component 84such as an LCD or a CRT. The above-mentioned instruction dataacquisition component 74, the instruction data storage component 76, theinstruction data interpreting component 78, the display contentsinterpreting component 80, the display image generation component 82 andthe display component 84 are connected to a microcomputer and canexchange data with each other.

The instruction data acquisition component 74 is connected to thenetwork 5 and acquires individual designation information from thecoordinating process server 50. The instruction data storage component76 stores the acquired individual designation information. Theinstruction data interpreting component 78 interprets the individualdesignation information acquired by the instruction data acquisitioncomponent 74, extracts a UI information part included in the individualdesignation information, and outputs the UI information part to thedisplay processing component 72.

The display contents interpreting component 80 interprets the UIinformation output from the instruction data interpreting component 78and outputs an interpretation result to the display image generationcomponent 82. The display image generation component 82 generates screeninformation of a display screen displayed on the display component 84.When the interpretation result output from the display contentsinterpreting component 80 includes a reference location information ofthe screen information, the display image generation component 82 canalso acquire screen information depending on the reference locationinformation from the outside (to be described later) As an example ofthe reference location information, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) orthe like representing a reference location is known.

This embodiment will describe a case in which image information of theHTML format has been stored in the document management server 62 inadvance. As the format of the image information stored in the documentmanagement server 62, not only the HTML format but also various formatssuch as the BINARY format or the XML format can be used.

The display component 84 displays a display screen of screeninformation, accepts an operation input by the user, and has a touchpanel function.

The instruction data acquisition component 74 corresponds to theacquisition component according to the invention, and the displaycomponent 84 corresponds to the display component. The instruction datainterpreting component 78 corresponds to the extraction componentaccording to the invention, the display image generation component 82corresponds to the generation component, and the display contentsinterpreting component 80 corresponds to the interpreting component.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the UI information is stored inadvance in the instruction data generation server 30. It may also beassumed that the UI information can be stored in service processingdevices such as the image processing apparatus 61 and the documentmanagement server 62. The UI information is not stored exclusively inthe instruction data generation server 30.

FIG. 4 is an image diagram showing the configuration of the UIinformation. The UI information is constituted by pieces of iteminformation representing objects to be displayed. As pieces of iteminformation, for example, <Popup>, <Alternate Button>, <Parameter Name>,and the like are used. Information representing corresponding shapes arestored in association with the pieces of item information such thatshapes or characters, which are defined in advance, are formed.

The pieces of item information are structured to include pieces ofattribute information. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the pieces ofattribute information are tree-structured as components of pieces ofitem information. The attribute information is information used forgenerating a screen structure for displaying the item information on ascreen or interpreting a value displayed on the screen, or represents aposition, a shape, a value to be displayed, and the like which are usedto display on a screen.

As pieces of attribute information, <Object Type>, <Value of Object>,<Layout Information>, and the like are known. <Object Type> represents aprocess performed such that item information to be displayed on a screenis designated by the user. <Value of Object> is a value such as a stringof characters displayed on a screen. <Layout Information> representsrelative position coordinates on the display screen of item informationdisplayed on a screen.

The pieces of attribute information belonging to the pieces of iteminformation are not limited to <Object Type>, <Value of Object>, and<Layout Information>, described above. The pieces of attributeinformation can also be constituted by further pieces of attributeinformation. For example, the pieces of attribute information canfurther include pieces of attribute information such as <Number ofObjects> representing the number of pieces of item information, <InitialSetting Value> representing an initial setting value, and the like. Incontrast to this, it is possible for the attribute information to beconstituted by only one of <Object Type>, <Value of Object>, and <LayoutInformation>.

Although in the present embodiment, the image diagram showing theconfiguration of the UI information has deliberately been madetree-structured in order to simplify the explanation, it is not limitedto the tree-structured diagram.

FIG. 6 shows an example of UI information included in instruction datahaving an XML format configuration. The UI information included in theinstruction data is described between <UI> representing the startposition of the UI information and the end position </UI> of the UIinformation.

In the UI information shown in FIG. 6, as pieces of item informationdisplayed on a screen, <Popup> and <Button> are shown. As the attributeinformation of <Popup>, “copy density” is shown as the value of anobject.

As the attribute information of <Button> shown at an upper level,“CLOSE” is shown as the value of an object, “close” is shown as anobject type, and an X-coordinate value “700” and a Y-coordinate value“5” are shown as the layout information.

As the attribute information of <Button> shown at a lower level, “true”representing that attribute information can be selected as an objecttype is shown, and “alternate” representing a selective input is shown.As the layout information, an X-coordinate value “200” and aY-coordinate value “100” are shown. As the number of objects, “7” isshown. As the initial setting value, “3” is shown. As values of objects,“lighter (+3)”, “lighter (+2)”, “lighter (+1)”, “normal”, “darker (+1)”,“darker (+2)”, and “darker (+3)” are shown.

The item information and the attribute information described in the UIinformation may be determined as follows. For example, predeterminedvalues are prepared in advance in the instruction data generation server30, and the item information and the attribute information aredetermined on the basis of the predetermined values thus prepared.

(Screen Display Method in Image Processing Apparatus 61)

A display process executed in the image processing apparatus 61 in stepST13 (FIG. 9) will be described below with reference to FIG. 10.

In the image processing apparatus 61, in step 200, individualdesignation information is acquired from the co-ordinating processserver 50 by the instruction data acquisition component 74. In the nextstep 202, the acquired individual designation information is stored inthe instruction data storage component 76.

In the next step 204, UI information included in the individualdesignation information is extracted. The process in step 204 isperformed such that the individual designation information is read fromthe instruction data storage component 76 and information describedbetween <UI> representing the start position of the UI informationincluded in the individual designation information and the end position</UI> of the UI information is read in the instruction data interpretingcomponent 78. The UI information extracted by the process in step 204 isoutput to the display contents interpreting component 80.

In the next step 206, it is confirmed by the display contentsinterpreting component 80 whether or not the UI information includes anitem representing a designation of external reference.

When the determination is negative in step 206, the procedure proceedsto step 212 and generate screen information of a display screendisplayed on the display component 84 by the display image generationcomponent 82 and which is based on the UI information extracted in step204 (to be described later). Thereafter, the procedure proceeds to step214.

On the other hand, when the determination is affirmative in step 206,the procedure proceeds to step 208 and reads the screen informationbased on the external reference information. In this embodiment, forexample, when the document management server 62 is designated as theexternal reference information, the document management server 62 isaccessed through the network 5 in accordance with the external referenceinformation. In the next step 210, the corresponding screen informationis read from the document management server 62, and the procedureproceeds to step 214.

A request for transmission of the screen information signal istransmitted to the document management server 62 in accordance with theexternal reference information and the screen information based on therequest for transmission signal can be received from the documentmanagement server 62.

After the screen information generated in step 212 or read in step 210is displayed on the display component 84, in step 214 this routine iscompleted.

(Display Image Generation Process)

A display image generation process in step 212 will be described belowwith reference to FIG. 11.

In step 300, a reading process of item information included in the UIinformation is executed. Item information described in the previousstage of the UI information is read by the process in step 300.

In the next step 304, an object type reading process of the iteminformation read in step 300 is executed. By means of the process instep 304, a process performed by items, which are displayed on thescreen, from among the item information read in step 300 is read.

In the next step 306, a layout information reading process of the iteminformation read in step 300 is executed. By means of the process instep 306, relative position coordinates from among the item informationread in step 300, which are displayed on the screen of the displaycomponent 84, are read.

In the next step 308, an object value reading process of the iteminformation read in step 300 is executed. By means of the process instep 308, a value of the item information read in step 300 is displayedon the screen and read.

In the next step 310, it is determined whether or not item informationhas been further described in the subsequent stage of the iteminformation read in step 300. When the determination is affirmative instep 310, the procedure returns to step 300 and repeats the processes insteps 300 to 308 until the determination becomes negative in step 310.

This embodiment has described cases in which, as the attributeinformation reading process of the item information read in step 300,object types, layout information, and values of objects are read in theprocesses in steps 304 to 308. A process of reading additional differentpieces of attribute information can also be performed. In this case,upon completion of the process in step 308, it is determined whether ornot attribute information for the item information read in step 300 isfurther included. When the determination is affirmative, the attributeinformation may be further read.

Furthermore, in the processes in steps 304 to 308, any one of theprocesses of reading object types, layout information, and values ofobjects may be executed. In these cases, immediately before execution ofprocesses in step 304 to 308, it is determined whether or not the piecesof attribute information are shown. For example, immediately before theprocess in step 304, it is determined whether or not an object typebelonging to the item information read in step 300 is shown. When thedetermination is affirmative, the procedure proceeds to step 306. Whenthe determination is negative, it is likewise possible, immediatelybefore the next step 306, to determine whether or not the layoutinformation is shown.

When the processes in steps 300 to 308 are repeated, the pieces of iteminformation shown in the UI information and the pieces of attributeinformation are sequentially interpreted by the display contentsinterpreting component 80.

In the next step 312, a screen information generation process isexecuted. The screen information is generated in the following manner.That is, shapes corresponding to the pieces of item informationdisplayed on the display component 84 are formed in accordance with thepieces of item information read by the processes in steps 300 to 308 andthe pieces of attribute information belonging to the pieces of the iteminformation, a screen structure representing the display positions ofthe pieces of item information of the formed shapes is generated, andvalues to be displayed are reflected on the generated screen structure.

More specifically, a button and a display pattern which correspond tothe item information and which are associated in advance with the iteminformation are formed from the item information, and a screen structureis generated based on the relation of the display position of the iteminformation with the formed display pattern. Moreover, a process to beperformed is recognized in accordance with item information selected bythe user on the basis of an object type, a value to be displayed isrecognized from the value of the object, and the value is reflected inthe screen structure generated as described above.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that display specifications such asthe size of the display component 84 and the number of displayablecolors are stored in advance in the image processing apparatus 61 andthat the display specifications are reflected at the time of thegeneration of the screen information.

The screen information generated in step 312 is displayed on the displaycomponent 84 in step 214.

For example, when the UI information shown in FIG. 6 is read by theprocesses in steps 300 to 310, processes of reading the pieces of iteminformation <Popup>, <Button>, and the pieces of attribute informationbelonging to the pieces of item information are executed, so that adisplay screen shown in FIG. 12 is displayed. More specifically, asshown in FIG. 12, a “copy density” is displayed on the display screen asa text. A “close” button is displayed at a position indicated by anX-coordinate 700 and a Y-coordinate 5. Further, seven alternate buttonsare selectively displayed, and the third alternate button is displayedin the state that it was selected. These alternate buttons are displayedon the screen at a position indicated by an X-coordinate 200 and aY-coordinate 100. On these alternate buttons, “lighter (+3)”, “lighter(+2)”, “lighter (+1)”, “normal”, “darker (+1)”, “darker (+2)”, and“darker (+3)” are displayed as the values of objects.

When “normal” (displayed in gray in this embodiment) has been selectedas an initial value on the display component 84 on which the displayscreen is shown as in FIG. 12, and is selectively changed to “darker”, adesignation is input such that an alternate button position 90 displayedat a position at which “darker (+2)” is displayed is depressed by theuser, and a value representing “darker (+2) is thereby input. When theinput value is registered in individual designation information storedin the instruction data storage component 76 and the value of “DefaultSelection” representing the initial setting value of attributeinformation is updated, the subsequent image processing in the imageprocessing apparatus 61 can be executed at a changed density.

This embodiment has described the case in which a screen informationgeneration process of a display screen depending on the UI informationis performed by the image processing apparatus 61. However, even inservice processing devices such as the document management server 62,the document delivery server 63, the first service processing device 64,and the second service processing device 65 which constitute thedocument processing system 1, processes can be executed by the sameprocess routine as described above.

In these cases, the same functions as the function of the displayprocess function component 69 are arranged in service processing devicessuch as the document management server 62, the document delivery server63, the first service processing device 64, and the second serviceprocessing device 65, so that the UI information may be included in theindividual designation information transmitted from the co-ordinatingprocess server 50.

In this way, in service processing devices such as the documentmanagement server 62, the document delivery server 63, the first serviceprocessing device 64, and the second service processing device 65 whichconstitute the document processing system 1, display screens dependingon the UI information can also be displayed in the same manner.

As described above, with regard to each service processing device, adisplay screen need not be installed in advance, and display screensdepending on the functions of the services are dynamically generated onthe basis of the instruction data. For this reason, display screenshaving excellent expandability and versatility can be provided.

Moreover, since image information based on the specifications of thedisplay screens installed in the service processing devices can beformed depending on the UI information, display screens in accordancewith the display units of the service processing devices can beprovided.

Each of the above embodiments has described a case in which theinvention has been applied to the document processing system 1 whichexecutes a series of processes described in instruction data bydelegating different processes using the co-ordinating process server 50and is performed by a plurality of service processing devices connectedto each other through a network. However, the invention is not limitedto these cases. For example, the invention can also be applied to adocument processing system, which executes the processes described inthe instruction data without using the co-ordinating process server 50.This feature will be described below with reference to drawings. In thefollowing description, the same reference numerals as in the aboveembodiments denote the same parts, and a description thereof will beomitted.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram for explaining interrelation between serviceprocessing devices constituting a document processing system 100. Thedocument processing system 100 can execute a co-ordinating process of aplurality of services without using the co-ordinating process server 50shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

(Invocation and Execution of Cooperating Process)

The user can select a desired instruction data from a plurality ofinstruction data stored in the instruction data management server 40,and can invoke a co-ordinating process. This operation will be describedbelow in detail.

The client terminal 10 selects instruction data expressing a desiredservice coordinating process from a service co-ordinating processselection screen depending on an operation of the user, and designatesthe instruction data to be invoked. The instruction data managementserver 40 transmits the instruction data designated by the clientterminal 10 to the image processing apparatus 61.

The image processing apparatus 61 acquires a document to be processed onthe basis of storage location information of a document to be processeddescribed in the transmitted instruction data. The image processingapparatus 61 interprets service process request contents with respect tothe acquired document image, performs image processing such as noisereduction or an OCR process, and performs a process of binding thedocument image with an extracted text document. The image processingapparatus 61 interprets UI information included in the instruction dataand displays on the display component 84 a display image in accordancewith the UI information. Upon completion of the predetermined imageprocessing, the image processing apparatus 61 deletes a service processrequest described in the instruction data. The image processingapparatus 61 transmits a document obtained by binding an image documentobtained by image processing with a text document and instruction datacontaining processing results such as status information of the process(completion), output parameters, and processed document storage locationinformation to the document management server 62 for providing the nextservice process.

After the predetermined image processing is terminated, the imageprocessing apparatus 61 may correct or delete part of a service requestof the image processing apparatus 61 described in the instruction dataand can transmit the document to the document management server 62. Inaddition, the image processing apparatus 61 can be structured totransmit the instruction data to the next service processing device,after the image processing is terminated.

The document management server 62 temporarily stores the documenttransmitted from the image processing apparatus 61 in the storagelocation described in the instruction data. The document managementserver 62 deletes the service process request described in theinstruction data, and transmits the document and the instruction data tothe document delivery server 63 for performing the next service process.

On the basis of the instruction data, the document delivery server 63performs e-mail transmission for only a text document of a documentobtained by binding a text document with an image document to an e-mailaddress designated as a delivery destination, and performs facsimiletransmission for only the image document to a designated facsimilenumber. When the document delivery server 63 determines that the nextprocess is not described in the instruction data, the document deliveryserver 63 notifies the client terminal 10 that all the processes havebeen completed and terminates the co-ordinating process.

A plurality of service processing devices for executing the services inthe document processing system 100 which do not use the co-ordinatingprocess server 50 described above or the document processing system 1which uses the co-ordinating process server 50 can also be applied to acomplex machine which is constituted as an independent machine without anetwork.

When the invention is applied to the document processing system 100 orthe complex machine, the same effects as in the above embodiments can beobtained.

1. An image processing apparatus, comprising: a server that receivesprocess information representing a series of processes, at least one ofthe processes to be performed to document data, the server generatinginstruction data based on the received process information, theinstruction data having a setting item and a setting value for settingexecution contents of the processes; and an image processing device thatreceives the instruction data generated by the server, the imageprocessing device including: a display component having displayspecifications; and a generation component that generates screeninformation for displaying a screen on the display component based onthe setting item and the setting value of the instruction data, whereinthe generation component generates the screen information by obtaining ascreen structure based on the display specifications of the displaycomponent and by applying the setting item and the setting value to theobtained screen structure, wherein the display component displays ascreen based on the screen information.
 2. The image processingapparatus of claim 1, wherein the generation component includes aninterpreting component which interprets a display item for defining thescreen structure on the basis of the setting item and the setting value.3. The image processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the serveracquires the instruction data from an external device.
 4. The imageprocessing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instruction data furtherincludes storage location information representing a position of anexternal device in which the screen information is stored in advance. 5.The image processing apparatus of claim 5, further comprising acommunication network, wherein the storage location information isaddress information representing the position of the external storagedevice, which is connected to the communication network.
 6. The imageprocessing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instruction data furtherincludes a location where the document data is stored, the document datais obtained from the location, and image processing is made to theobtained document data.
 7. The image processing apparatus of claim 1,wherein the instruction data further includes contents of a screenstructure for displaying, the screen structure is generated inaccordance with the contents, and the setting information is reflectedin a generated screen structure.